Gandhi scion stays to the point, has strong views

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, according to his close aides, always expresses strong views on different subjects in closed-door meetings.

But on Friday, the Gandhi scion for the first time spoke his mind on a public platform that firmly rejected a collective decision of his own government.

Unlike his mother Congress president Sonia Gandhi who prefers to build a broader consensus and allots more time for others to speak before arriving at a decision, the young Gandhi is know to pose sharp questions and prefers short, pointed speeches.

Even as a large section of the Congress has hailed Gandhi's stand on the ordinance, a senior Congress leader said, "these sorts of explosive statements may harm the Congress system of functioning and governance."

Rahul's harsh demeanour, in fact, made people recall how his father Rajiv Gandhi once denounced the Planning Commission as a "bunch of jokers" in 1985. Incidentally, the plan panel that time was headed by Manmohan Singh.

Rajiv had also once slammed the then foreign secretary AP Venkateswaran and told a press conference that "you will soon see a new foreign secretary". Within a few hours, the incumbent had resigned to save his prestige.

While party insiders feel that his stand on the controversial ordinance was correct, his choice of words certainly didn't help him.